Connection provider for 500 MW solar-plus-storage project in UK

Smith Brothers Contracting Ltd is set to provide turnkey electrical engineering services at the planned Sunnica Energy Farm – a 500 MW solar-plus-storage project in England.

The clean energy scheme is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project and, if approved, will be capable of powering around 100,000 homes. The project envisages the construction of two separate solar parks with energy storage, namely Sunnica East and Sunnica West, near Worlington, Suffolk county, and Chippenham, East Cambridgeshire county.

Acting as the Independent Connection Provider (ICP), Smith Brothers will provide a turnkey solution for the renewable energy site, including all civil, electrical primary and grid works – from initial design through to construction, commissioning, and electrical balance of plant.

The firm will also oversee the building of three 132kV private substations and laying of a 132kV cable route to the solar farm, in order to connect the site to the Burwell National Grid Substation.

The proposed 16km of cabling must traverse existing infrastructure, including a railway line and dual carriageway. As such, Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) methods will be applied, in conjunction with Network Rail and Highways England, respectively.

Planning works are already in motion, with construction set to begin in 2022 and a target energisation date of 2025.

The project is a joint venture between Tribus Clean Energy and PS Renewables.